Filling feeler repair part



March 4-, 1941. P|NKUL 2,234,083

FILLING FEEL-ER REPAIR PART Filed Sept. 20, 1940 R E FIRE/Z" INVENTOR. ALF/QED E. l /N/fl/L.

BY mgw A Tree/v5 X Patented Mar. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FILLING FEELER, REPAIR PART ration of Maine Application September 20, 1940, Serial No. 357,623

5 Claims.

This invention pertains to filling feeler mechanisms for looms and more particularly relates to guiding attachments for such feeler mech anisms.

Feeler mechanisms now in general use usually comprise a housing and a feeler mounted therein for movement forwardly and rearwardly of the loom and, in feelers of the side slipping type, for movement transversely of the loom. The feeler is usually supported and guided by surfaces of the housing. Due to the rapid reciprocation of the feeler, such supporting and guiding surfaces are worn away and replacement of the feeler housing is necessary.

Accordingly it is the principal object of my invention to provide an attachment for feeler mechanisms for looms, the attachment being carried by the feeler housing and having surfaces supporting and guiding the feeler in its movement forwardly, rearwardly and laterally of the loom, the attachment being detachably mounted on the housing with the supporting and guiding surfaces of the attachment contiguous to and in alignment with the supporting and guiding surfaces of the housing, whereby upon wear of the supporting and guiding surfaces of the attachment, the attachment may be removed and replaced by a new attachment.

A further object of my invention is the provision of an attachment having supporting and guiding surfaces which is adapted to be readily attached to a housing of a feeler mechanism having worn supporting and guiding surfaces whereby the attachment provides new supporting and guiding surfaces.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are accomplished in the construction illustrated on the accompanying drawing, of which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a feeler mechanism having part of the cover cut away and showing the preferred modification of the attachment forming the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the modification of the guide attachment shown on Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 but showing a modified form of attachment;

Fig. 5 is a view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the modification of the guide attachment shown on Fig. 4.

The particular feeler mechanism shown to which my attachment has been applied may be similar to that disclosed and claimed in Patent No. 1,593,425 granted to Brown and Repass on July 20, 1926.

In the drawing, the feeler stand or housing may comprise a base member I and a cover member 2 secured together by a screw 3. Between the base and cover members of the housing, the

feeler member 4 is mounted for movement forwardly and rearwardly of the loom and also in a direction transversely of the loom.

The feeler member 4 has a laterally extending arm 5 the end 6 of which is adapted to engage a stop or bearing (not shown) when the feeler is in its rearward feeling position. A spring 1 is connected to the arm 5 at 8 and to a pin 9 at the rear of the feeler housing, the spring thus acting in a rearward direction to move the feeler into its rearward feeling position as indicated in dotted lines on Fig. 1. Between the base and cover portions of the housing is formed a slot l0, best shown on Figs. 2 and 5, said slot being of sufiicient lateral dimensions to permit the side slipping movement of the feeler when it indicates substantial exhaustion of filling. The rear end of the feeler member is provided with a tip it which is adapted to engage a surface within the shuttle on each detecting beat. the feeler member and the train of mechanism for effecting replenishment of filling is the transmitter l2. It has not been considered necessary herein to illustrate and describe the train of mechanism for effecting replenishment of filling since the details thereof form no part of the present invention and are fully and clearly shown in the Brown and Repass patent.

The feeler is supported by the base member I and is slidable upon the upper surface of the base member. The vertical surface l3 of one of the side walls of the slot It) forms a stop against which the feeler bears in its reciprocatory movements forwardly and rearwardly of the loom. The surface 14 of the bottom wall of the slot 10 guides and supports the feeler in its movements forwardly and rearwardly of the loom and also in its lateral movements transversely of the loom.

The vertical surface l3 and the portion of the surface 14 adjacent the vertical surface 13 are subjected to wear due to the fact that the feeler slides back and forth on these surfaces every other beat of the lay. When these surfacesbecome unduly worn the feeler is liable to lose its delicacy of balance and fail to function properly thus necessitating the replacement of the entire feeler mechanism or at least the housing.

I have provided an attachment having supporting and guiding surfaces in alignment with the surfaces 13 and M to take part of the wear of these surfaces. Such attachments may comprise a single flat sheet of metal pressed into the desired shape. One modification of such attachment may comprise an attaching portion I5 having an opening l6 therein for reception of the screw 3 and also having a depending lug I! and a supporting and guiding portion. The supporting and guiding portion may comprise a substantially vertical guiding surface I 8 and Between a substantially horizontal guiding surface l9. The attachment may be secured to the feeler housing by the screw 3 which secures the cover member to the base member. The lug H extends over the rear end of the cover plate (as best shown on Fig. 2) and helps hold the attachment in place. When the attachment is properly secured to the feeler housing the guiding surface l8 of the attachment is contiguous to and substantially in the same plane with the guiding surface I3 of the slot l0, and the guiding surface I9 of the attachment is contiguous to and substantially in the same plane as the surface M of the slot l0. Thus it will be seen that when an attachment is applied to a new feeler housing the guiding surfaces l8 and IQ of the attachment substantially form continuations of the guiding surfaces l3 and I4 of the slot I0 and will take part of the wear which these surfaces otherwise would take. If the attachment is attached to a used feeler mechanism in which the guiding surfaces l3 and M are worn, the attachment provides new guiding surfaces located in relation to the feeler mechanism in the same respect as were the worn guiding surfaces of the feeler prior to wear thereof.

Another modification of an attachment is shown on Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The feeler mechanism is the same as that shown on Figs. 1 and 2. In this particular modification the guiding portion with the guiding surfaces 20 and 2! is similar to the guiding portion shown in the modification shown on Fig. 3. The attaching portion may comprise a fiat plate 22 similar in shape and size to the cover member 2. The plate 22 has an opening 23 therein through which passes the screw 3 holding the cover member and the base member together. The plate 22 also has a depending lug 24 to assist in holding the plate in position when attached to the feeler housing.

This modification of the attachment is secured to the feeler housing by being placed between the base member I and the cover member 2 and held in place therebetween by the screw 3 and the lug 24. g

The bottom surface of the plate 22 also acts as a guiding surface for the feeler.

While I have shown the modification of Fig. 3 with only two guiding surfaces and the modification of Fig. 6 with only three guiding surfaces, it is obvious that as many guiding surfaces may be provided as thought desirable;

Having thus described the preferred embodiments of my invention, what I claim is:

1. An attachment for a feeler mechanism for looms including a housing and a feeler mounted therein for movement forwardly and rearwardly of the loom and transversely thereof said attachment comprising an attaching portion adapted to be secured to said housing and a guiding portion, said guiding portion including a substantially vertical guiding surface, and a substantially horizontal guiding surface, said vertical guiding surface being adapted to support and guide said feeler in its movements forwardly and rearwardly of the loom, and said horizontal guiding surface being adapted to support and guide said feeler in its movement forwardly and rearwardly of the loom and throughout its movements transversely thereof.

2. In a feeler mechanism for looms, the combination of a housing having an opening therein, said opening having top, bottom and side walls,

a feeler mounted in said housing and extending outwardly through said opening for movement forwardly and rearwardly of the loom and trans- 5 versely thereof, and a guiding member detachably carried by said housing, said guiding member having a horizontal guiding surface and a vertical guiding surface, said horizontal guiding surface being contiguous to and substantially in the same plane as said bottom wall of said opening and said vertical guiding surface being contiguous to and substantially in the same plane as one of said side 'Walls of said opening, said guidin surfaces supporting and guiding said feeler in its movements forwardly and rearwardly of the loom and throughout its movement laterally of the loom.

3. In a feeler mechanism for looms the combination of a base member, a yieldable side slipping feeler mounted thereon, a spring for moving the feeler to feeling position, a cover member, means for securing said cover member to said-base member, a removable combined stop and guide member, said member comprising, an attaching portion and stop and guide portion, said attaching portion being secured to said cover member by said means securing said cover member to said base member, said stop and guide portion providing a stop against which said feeler slides as it moves forwardly and rearwardly of the loom and a guiding surface for guiding said feeler throughout its movements transversely of the loom, said guiding surface being contiguous to and lying in the same plane as said base member.

4. In a feeler mechanism for looms, the combination of a base member, a yieldable side slipping feeler mounted thereon, a spring for moving the feeler to feeling position, a cover member, '40 means for securing said cover member to said base member, a removable combined stop and guide member, said member comprising an attaching portion and a stop and guide portion, said attaching portion comprising a flat plate 5 having a periphery corresponding to the periphery of said cover member, said flat plate being secured between said base member and said cover member by said means securing said cover member to said base member, said stop and guide portion providing a stop against Which the feeler slides as it moves forwardly and rearwardly of the loom and a guiding surface for guiding said feeler in its movements transversely of the loom.

5. In a feeler mechanism for looms, the com- '55 bination of a base member, a yieldable side slipping feeler mounted thereon, means for moving the feeler to feeling position, a cover member, means for securing said cover member to said base member, a detachable guiding member, said 60 member comprising an attaching portion and a guiding portion, said attaching portion comprising a flat plate having a periphery corresponding to the periphery of said cover member, means securing said flat plate between said base member and said cover member, said guiding portion including a horizontal guiding surface and a vertical guiding surface for supporting and guiding said feeler in its movement forwardly and rearwardly of the loom.

ALFRED E. PINKUL. 

